transformers2005fandomcom-20200215-history
The Battle of Copernicus
Kenya Momesa is standing on the bridge of Copernicus surrounded by an army of technicians who are busy working on pretty much every piece of equipment in the room. The station was never fully repaired after the Autobots took it back from the Decepticons...until now. "With this new sensors array, we will be able to track any decepticons movement across the globe. Let's keep up with the good work people. We need to get the defense system back online before the Decepticons notice what we're doing here." He looks over his shoulder, "Lt Commander Velum. What's Copernicus' status?" "Repairs are seventy percent complete, sir." Velum speaks up across from Kenya at a console, pouring over the data stream and tapping the screen now at then. This may be a simple station repair, but that doesn't mean she doesn't come prepared. Already the Neb has her gear on and helmet set to the side, just in case. "We should be fully operational within two hours. But otherwise? ..Things are quiet out there." That last bit doesn't sound as happy as it should be, Velum sure not to truly trust it. Talia McKinley isn't on the bridge with the techies. She and a small group of security personal have been walking the corridors and checking rooms, making sure the Decepticons didn't leave behind any other problems that would be a hinderance to getting the station back into working order. So far they haven't found anything, but she's got her weapon in hand all the same. The other hand briefly tabs the control to her headset comm. <> Spike Witwicky is dangling from the rafters of the bridge's access hatch, elbow deep in wires. Nowhere else he'd rather be. "There were so many ridiculous hodge-podge backdoors and makeshift overrides! 'Con tech is pretty laughable sometimes." A door at the far end of the room thumps open, and Carly emerges, bleary-eyed, wearing pink bunny pyjamas and clutching a hot water bottle. "Can you guys keep it down!" she moans with a huff, "I'm trying to get some sleep here! I thought this suspiciously-evil-feeling station would be a nice and quiet place to catch up on some sleep after Spike kept me up all night! TWELVE HOURS AGO "Stop it Spike, stop it. Stop it Spike. Stop it." Carly holds her broomstick and gives the top bunk above her another heavy smack to try and block out the snoring coming from it. Kenya Momesa nods at Velum with a faint smile on his face, "Good. Hopefully we will be operational before the Decepticons notice what we're doing. " He presses his hand on his ear as he listens to Talia's report <>. He turns replies to Spike as Carly makes her entrance, "I... hrm. Welcome Carly. I guess Copernicus isn't the most quiet place at the moment." Shockwave is in a difficult position. After months of playing Scorponok and Cyclonus against one another, Galvatron's sudden and unexpected return put any advancement plans on hold. Now he has found himself competing against Scorponok for the coveted position of third in command. The notion that Scorponok and Shockwave battling against one another merely strengthens Galvatron's rule has crossed Shockwave's mind, of course, but for now he has to consolidate and secure his position before making any further moves. Now, a Decepticon stealth shuttle under cloak inches towards Copernicus. Shockwave's constant global monitoring revealed the increased Earth Defence Command activity, and while he does not know the exact specifics of their work, he intends to put Copernicus Station out of its misery before the EDC can make something of it. In the deployment bay, Shockwave addresses his troops. "The objective, Decepticons, is not to destroy EDC personnel but instead cripple this station and destroy any efforts by the humans to repair it. Earthquake, Triggerhappy, you will be our vanguard. Sweep through and eliminate all hostiles while our saboteurs disable the station's power grid. I will soon follow." Sitting where he can see everyone, in particular his third (or is it fourth) in command, Galvatron seems fairly relaxed for Galvatron, there may even be nobody getting cannoned anytime soon. He says nothing, having said what he needed to on a Decepticon frequency (yes he was in the shuttle, but it's good to remind Shockwave of what is expected of him with as much of an audience as possible. And so Galvatron waits, he may even go aboard the space station with his troops, who can guess what he will do. For the time being, Squadron X is split up, each member going their separate ways to take care of different assignments. Earthquake just happens to be under Shockwave's command for the moment. He stands at attention in the deployment bay of the shuttle, quietly waiting for the mission to begin. However, he is not entirely still, constantly flexing his fingers in anticipation. Once given his orders, he nods in acknowledgement. "Understood. Do you mind if I cause some collateral while I'm at it?" "Mh." Is all Velum says in reply, mind a bit more focused on her console. But naturally Carly breaks her focus, bringing her attention around to view the woman with a critical eye. "You realize we could be attacked any second now, right? I'd suggest putting you gear back on." With a soft huff and turns back, sliding fingers over the screen to double check proximity sensors. ..Nothing yet. Carly pulls up the hood of her pyjamas. It has rabbit ears on it. "I'm looking for a kettle," she explains. "I think the cold hard vacuum of space makes things get colder quickly, but it's not like I'm an MIT graduate or anything..." She spies a kettle near Kenya and clicks it on. She sighs at Velum. "If I 'geared up' whenever I thought I might be attacked, I would be sleeping in my exo-suit. And then it would start to smell. Surely if we expect violence, it only creates violence and OH NO!" Her gaze is pulled to a nearby monitor display that reads... "The fridge is out of cheese!" Triggerhappy looks just as eager as Earthquake does, standing near the deployment hatch as he anticipates the opportunity to shred some human vermin. Maybe some Autobots will show up to help their little fleshy friends. He nods when Shockwave gives the order. "Sounds like a plan to me, sir." Glancing at Earthquake's comment, he shrugs. "I'm not even sure if collateral damage is even avoidable." Two engineers in full HAZMAT suits walk in holding giant bundles of space station parts. One of them walks like a fierce beautiful disaster. "Hurry along, Hairsplitter. And stay to my left- you're blocking my good side to the rest of the room." Singe adds the space station parts to the pile. "What a filthy place. Why would anyone ever want to refurbish it?" Hairsplitter stares blankly out at the room. "...Monitoring systems." He says simply. Singe rolls his eyes under his HAZMAT mask. "Thank you for sharing, 'Split. It's nice to see your brain firing as quickly as you type. Now, where is Velum, because as soon as Galvatron arrives I..." "The fridge is out of cheese!" "My god. Who is that visage of a women disguised as a craftfair spinster? Are there are forces infiltrating the EDC? I must know more about her!" $r$r "Witwicky," Hairsplitter offers, put Singe suggests that he talks to the hand. "Now you're not even using real words, Hairsplitter." Two engineers in full HAZMAT suits walk in holding giant bundles of space station parts. One of them walks like a fierce beautiful disaster. "Hurry along, Hairsplitter. And stay to my left- you're blocking my good side to the rest of the room." Singe adds the space station parts to the pile. "What a filthy place. Why would anyone ever want to refurbish it?" Hairsplitter stares blankly out at the room. "...Monitoring systems..." He says simply. Singe rolls his eyes under his HAZMAT mask. "Thank you for sharing, 'Split. It's nice to see your brain firing as quickly as you type. Now, where is Velum, because as soon as Galvatron arrives I..." "The fridge is out of cheese!" "My god." Singe spots Carly. "Who is that visage of a woman disguised as a craftfair spinster? Are there are OTHER forces infiltrating the EDC? I must know more about her!" "Witwicky," Hairsplitter offers, but Singe suggests that he talks to the hand. "Now you're not even using real words, Hairsplitter." Talia McKinley takes a breather from the walking, motioning to the other guards with her to do the same. While the troops catch their breath she adjusts her mirrored aviator glasses, clicking the hidden button in the frame to bring up a small map of the station on her smartgun system's hud and double-check which portions have been patrolled or not. Powerstation/Manufacturing Level - Not-Blot Station(#6097Rnt) - Earth The real guts of the station, this is where shuttles, fighters, and exo-suits are repaired, and any type of equipment used to build or repair earth machinery can also be found here. The upper area is comprised of mostly conveyor belts, lift hooks, and the tools needed to fix the EDCs machines of war, and at the bottommost level is the large fusion reactor that supplies the station with its power. Human technicians and factory workers scamper around day and night, working to keep the station's critical functions active and online. A constant thrum can be felt from the reactor's turbines, almost like the hearbeat of Copernicus. Triggerhappy goes home. Triggerhappy has left. Spike Witwicky is thankfully oblivious to his wife as he crawls deeper into a ceiling duct, murmuring numbers to himself while following a shorted line. Triggerhappy has arrived. Oblivious to the approaching Decepticon shuttle, Kenya looks down at Carly, "Velum is right. This is a military operation, you should wear something more appropriate." He looks around for Spike to ask him to deal with his wife but he's nowhere to be found, <> Then he walks over towards the sensors station and asks the tech, "How long until they are operational?" The technician replies, "I'm making the last adjustments sir!" If Velum has to throttle Carly again she will, but for now she stays her hand and lets Kenya deal with it. She has more important things to worry about anyway. At the clatter of metal the woman looks up and narrows gaze at the HAZMAT duo just arriving, leaving her console a moment to approach and inspect their parts. "Hm. No, sorry guys, these parts should go to Level 3, Sector B. Gonna have to ask you to take 'em on over there instead." They're lucky she can't see past the mask, but she still levels a stern gaze at them both. Carly smiles at Kenya. "No-one has attacked this station in years. If someone does, I'll eat my hat!" She frowns at her pyjama hood. "Okay, my rabbit ears." She fills up her hot water bottle and then turns around, bottle in one hand, kettle in the other. "I KNOW YOU!" she exclaims at Hairsplitter. "You're HAZMAT GUY #2! But I thought the hazmat stuff was going on over there!" She motions the opposite way with the hand that has the kettle in it. Unfortunately the lid is not fastened, and boiling hot water flies out of it, towards hairsplitter's crotch! The kettle says "MADE BY MCDONALDS" on the side If Shockwave is unnerved by Galvatron's presence, he does not show it. If anything, he prefers having the leader here. If the Decepticon troops are not afraid of Shockwave, they damn well will be afraid of Galvatron. The cyclops is not the only one being observed here. "Collateral damage is not the assignment, but acceptable," Shockwave replies. He doesn't want to give Earthquake license to run off by himself and ignore his job. Looking to his team, he says simply: "Consider this your opportunity to impress Galvatron." In the next instant, Copernicus Station rocks as one of its stabilizers explodes. With the bay door open, the Decepticon shuttle is in full view, having come around to a side where Shockwave believes the station is less well armed. The Decepticons, led by Shockwave's gun mode, surge towards the station as the Military Commander starts blasting holes into the hull. With each impact, the station shakes, and soon Decepticons are swarming around the outside. Total time from peace to chaos at Copernicus Station? Approximately 9.47 seconds. Shockwave's legs combine as his back unfolds. A wide, silver barrel appears out of subspace and connects to his arms, completing his transformation into ray gun mode. Singe offers a pleasant, albeit flamboyant salute to Velum. "My most sincerest apologies, Lt. Commander! Apparently our original orders were not up to date! Down to Level 3, Sector B with us, Thaddington McMurray!" Singe doesn't have the best grasp of Earth names yet. He turns to gather his space station parts when Carly points at Hairsplitter. <> He think transmits to Spinister, who is standing next to Shockwave, relaying what's happening. <> And then she throws a kettle of hot water on Hairsplitter's crotch. The quiet sniper crumples to the ground in pain. "...burning...burning..." Singe's look of shock turns to one of realization and anger under his HAZMAT mask. <> But then there's an explosion so everything is probably going to work out. Posed by Spinister 3m 34s ago: Spinister's last pose: Singe offers a pleasant, albeit flamboyant salute to Velum. "My most sincerest apologies, Lt. Commander! Apparently our original orders were not up to date! Down to Level 3, Sector B with us, Thaddington McMurray!" Singe doesn't have the best grasp of Earth names yet. He turns to gather his space station parts when Carly points at Hairsplitter. <> He think transmits to Spinister, who is standing next to Shockwave, relaying what's happening. <> And then she throws a kettle of hot water on Hairsplitter's crotch. The quiet sniper crumples to the ground in pain. "...burning...burning..." Singe's look of shock turns to one of realization and anger under his HAZMAT mask. <> But then there's an explosion so everything is probably going to work out. Triggerhappy charges out of the ship after Shockwave, and begins bombarding the station as commanded. He finds a hole large enough to fit his aerial form and flies through it, searching for targets to blast. And that is totally not Blowpipe, Singe is an idiot. "All the better." Earthquake asides to Triggerhappy, then nods again to Shockwave. Oh, there won't be any problems with him getting carried away. He knows his job, and he'll do it to the best of his ability. It just happens to involve, nine times out of ten, breaking a lot of things in his immediate surroundings. And now they're all flying through space to board the Copernicus. Earthquake, though? As soon as he reached maximum velocity, he immediately transformed into his altmode and aimed for a weakened section of hull. Yeah, he's just gonna ram right the pit through it. Earthquake drops to the ground, changing into the Killdozer. If only Galvatron could see how well the two undercover Nebulons are performing, he would totally give them a promotion so they could both order Spinister around. However he can't. Instead he stands up as the attack commences, waiting till almost everyone else is out of the shuttle and attacking in some way (aside from two Sweeps who seem to be assigned as his escort, you know, incase Spike gets lucky). "Ahhh, it would appear your sneaky underhanded approach worked Shockwave, and caught the humans off guard. Now, perhaps worry more about impressing me yourself than about others." As he leaves the station flanked by two unidentified Sweeps (cause that named one is totally on the wrong side of the galaxy), Galvatron makes his way slowly towards the station. On occassion he fires a casual cannon blast at the station, nothing terribly heavy. Holes possibly appear. Kenya Momesa nearly falls over the console as the station rock under the attack. He quickly summons an image of the Decepticon shuttle on the main screen, "Decepticons! Not here. Not now." There's a brief flash of light as the benefactor summons his armor. "We must repel this attack. Everyone to his combat station. They are boarding us!" Kenya quickly makes his way towards one of the breach as he opens his comlink, <> Kenya is suddenly surrounded by milions of nanorobots which engulf him, turning into the benefactor's power armor. <> Spike belatedly replies, drawn up in reading a dial. <> He braces against the duct when the station shudders. <> With some frantic scrambling he crawls out of the rafters and lands with a metallic -thump-. "Carly? C'mon," he tries to lead her /away/ from the action, probably to stuff her in a closet somewhere. <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "We need reinforcement. The Intrepid must evacuate all non essential staff. I want 2 exo-squads to reinforce us with the Michael Briar. Request assistance from the Autobots." That voice... There's something about that voice she doesn't like. Something familiar.. "Right, get to it then." She cocks a brow slightly at the odd name, but otherwise ignores it. She's about to turn to set off, but chaos ensues in the form of Carly, Velum perking in shock when Hairsplitter in disguise is splashed. "/Carly/!" She grates, glaring at the Witwicky. "What in the hell do you think yo- Ergh!" The station lurches and Velum is knocked forward into Singe, instinctively clutching at the hazmat suit to avoid toppling over completely. Cursing something in Nebulan under her breath she rights herself and completely forgets about the water incident. "You two, suit up and get to your posts!" She orders Singe and Hairsplitter before trying to get to where she was and retrieve her helmet where it lays after being knocked to the floor. Getting down to the Exo bay is key at this point for her. <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "Carly. I fully expect you to eat your hat once we're back on Earth." <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "Ditto." Carly claps her hand to her mouth in shock as Hairsplitter goes down hard. "Oh no, I'm sorry!" she squeaks, but then the station rocks, and alarms go off. She gets the strangest feeling that pink rabbit pyjamas are not the best outfit to be fighting Decepticons (unless it was a season 2 episode, when it would prove key to the victory.) "I'll help you!" she calls to Hairsplitter, picking up the first aid kit. But then Spike grabs her, and the first aid kit flies out of her hands, splitting open to reveal hundreds of safety pins that tumble in the air in the direction of Hairsplitter's crumpled form. "Spike, get off!" The sudden shaking and sound of bad things happening in other parts of the station jolts the security patrol back to life. Like properly trained soldiers they're immeadiately back on their feet and drawing their weapons. Once the initial rattling is done Talia stands and readjusts her stetson back into place. Be damned if it ain't military protocol, it's her lucky hat. "Break into groups and spread out. Locate any invasive hostiles and coordinate, reinstate the stations security lockdown barriers if you can. Let's show 'em they can't just show up and walk all over us." As she gestures out directions the patrol splits down various corridors. Talia holsters her sidearm, and reachs over a shoulder to pull her larger rifle off her back. It drops into her grip proper, humming to life as she jerks the activator slide like a shotgun pump, and heads off as well, keeping herself to shielded corners and other visual abstructions as she signals back to the Bridge once more. <> ... Without a exo-suit or something? This woman is either crazy, brave, or both! <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "...Can I buy a nacho hat?" <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "Request denied." <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "Did I tell you how much I enjoy wearing lettuce on my head?" <'EDC'> Talia McKinley says, "Can we worry 'bout Carly tryin' to get outta the bet -after- savin' our asses?" <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "We must help Hazmat guy #2, he's had a terrible accident!" <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "Repelling the Decepticons is our top priority." <'EDC'> Talia McKinley says, "Y'all gonna have to bring the bigger guns, I ain't got a ship up here. But Ah'll see iffen I can't soften somethin up fer ya." Laser Gun watches as Earthquake careens towards the station. He should have enough impact to smash his way through, Shockwave calculates. With Triggerhappy already in, that means the Decepticon infiltration is already working. Surging forward towards the station, Shockwave fires another potent blast, ripping a hole large enough for him to slip through. He's already mid-transformation as he passes through the threshhold onto the station. Finding himself in one of the upper levels, Shockwave proceeds to stomp through the hallways, arm cannon at the ready. He's heading for what Decepticon Intelligence believes is the bridge. Meanwhile, outside the station, the second wave of Decepticons is much, MUCH more quiet than the first. Three Sweeps are moving to key external locations with detpacks in hand. A sharp eye and keen tactical mind may reveal part of Shockwave's plan here. Shockwave's handle separates into legs as his barrel splits into arms. Straightening out, he completes his transformation into robot mode. Oh, but Velum doesn't get to get away that easily, of course. Once she turns to leave, Singe wraps his arms around her, pulling her back against him. "Careful, Lt. Commander, this whole place is shakin!" But once he has her, he can't help himself. "You never have been able to stay away from me, have you?" There's a cool transformer noise, and gauntlets fold over each of his arms and heat up- his own personal flamethrowers. One is pointed at Velum's temple. "Kenya Momesa!" Singe pulls off his hazmat hat. He is disarmingly beautiful. "The Empire has come for your thriftshop space station! Surrender the bridge, or force me to burn one of my oldest, most loyal and loving friends to death!" Meanwhile, Hairsplitter stands, hamzat suit stuck with hundreds of safety pins. "762." He confirms, drawing two pistols and pointing them at Carly and...well, just generally pointing them. The camera focuses on the first aid kit for a minute, which advertises that each kit comes with 762 safety pins. Of course Earthquake has enough impact. If he didn't, he wouldn't be very good at disrupting enemy lines, now would he? The point is proven when, indeed, he smashes right through the hull, rending the laser-weakened metal with his spiked plow and coming to a rough landing in a hallway a few levels down from Shockwave. "Hahaha, it's like ripping through tissue paper!" he comments, driving off in the general direction of the bridge. Maybe if he has to navigate some stairs, he'll go back to robot mode. But for now, crashing through walls is more fun. Flying closer, but not yet reaching the station, Galvatron smiles slightly as the humans greatest achievement in space is getting taken to pieces once again. Over an open channel he remarks, <> As he gets nearer to the station, Galvatron blasts a whole big enough for himself in the side, his Sweep escort diving ahead to make sure the way is clear when Galvatron reached his entrance. <'EDC'> Talia McKinley snarks "We gut any giant rolls of duct tape on this bucket? So we can stick Galvachump's mouth shut." Triggerhappy also makes his way toward the bridge, following the big purple cyclops with the plan. He has yet to find a worthy foe, though he is enjoying sending a few hapless human technicians screaming and running in fear. "Eh?!" Velum makes a go for her helmet, but ends up finding herself reeled back in against the mysterious HAZMAT man. "Soldier, what the hell are you doing??" She hisses, about the threaten him with being court-martialed until that voice is heard up close and the feel of hot metal is pressed to her head. It shuts her down completely, Velum now stunned. How.. "Singe.." The name growls through clenched teeth, both hands balling into fists and muscles tightening. "How dare you.. How /dare/ you come up here and even think you can hold me hostage!" Because seriously, he should know she won't stand for that. Velum's words roar with overboiling rage, completely ignoring the flamethrowers and lurching backwards to try and strike him square in the face with the back of her head. <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "Avoid him for now." Power Armor 's armor reports many breaches in the hull as well as the general position of most of the Decepticons. He stops a moment and look at Singe who, fortunately, can't see the look on Kenya's face. He prepares to knock the Nebulan's head off when Velum frees herself. He nods at her before turning around and leaving the bridges without even looking back at Singe. He walks down the corridor to intercept the decepticon coming towards him. He turns a corner and finds himself face to face with a purple giant, "Shockwave!" Things could not be worst. "Stop right here Decepticon. You're not going any further." Kenya activates his anti-grav and launches himself forwards. As soon as he gets in range, he throws a nasty punch towards Shockwave's face. Spike Witwicky releases Carly and... well, she can take care of herself, obviously. "Take some cover all right?" Backing away, he turns and summons his armor mid-step, heading for Kenya near the breach - only to be drawn back when Singe and Hairpslitter reveal themselves. "What in the stars...!" Then Hairsplitter draws his weapons. "Oh no you DON'T!" Balling a metallic fist, he trudges over and swings it straight for Hairsplitter's chin. Spike dons his power armor, the deep red plates folding up with loud clacks as the arm-mounted plasma torch hums to life. Carly ducks as Spike uses his exo suit to punch a poor man in the face. "Spike, you saved me!" she cries. "But also that is excessive force, Spike! You shouldn't hit people with big metal fists!" Carly looks around, but she didn't bring her exo suit with her. She does however, duck into a store cupboard, and comes out with a yellow hardhat on her head. "This doesn't count as my hat as per my deal with Kenya!" she explains to everyone in the room, slightly unneccesarily Are they just trying to scrap the station in general, or make their way to the bridge to reclaim it? There's no assurance of just how much or little tactics are involved when you're dealing with a maniacal monarch like Galvatron. Talia gets part of her answer however when the spiked dozer comes rumbling down the corridor, just barely stepping back into the branch-off she was approachihng from in time and flattening against the wall. Eyes narrow at the intersection as the Decepticon chugs past and down the passageway. Briefly she glances back to the two soldiers that had followed her, uttering in a low whisper "Keep headin' up to the bridge and help the others." Her head turns back to the corridor. "Ah'm gonna slow that lumbering lug down." The two soldiers just sort of look at each other with uncertainy, but orders are orders, and they backtrack a bit to go around the advancing Decepticon vectors. By this point the Killdozer has passed, so Talia darts her way out into the corridor and turns to face the rear of the vehicle. This is crazy and she knows it, but if she can slow down even one Decepticon from getting to the bridge, it will be for the better of her fellow soldiers. She grips the rifle in both hands, brings it up to take aim, scowling a bit as the targetting scope feeds into her smartgun hardware. The rifle hums faintly as it charges up, and then it's retort rattles down the corridor as she fires one of it's magnetic penetrator rounds at the backside of the 'dozer. "Oh, I dare!" Singe throws his head back with a laugh, tossing his beautiful mane like the primary talent in a shampoo commercial. "I dare because you would NEVER lay a hand on-" There is a sickening crunch as the back of Velum's head breaks Singe's noses. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He crumples like a witch in water, pressing his hands over his face, eyes widening as he sees his own blood squirting from his face. "You...You broke my face...YOU BROKE MY BEAUTIFUL FACE! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIRSPLITTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Hairsplitter, staggering from a Spike punch, was about to counter attack when he hears the melody of Singe screaming for him. He glances back, casually no look catching a piece of steel a random human flings at him and flinging it back through the man's chest. Seeing that Singe is in need of immediate evac, he abandons a melee with Spike, drawing arms on Velum as he scoops Singe up into his arms. "...Tactical flanking maneuver..." His hazmat suit falls away and his *Master exo subspaces in, and with antigravs fired, he zooms away with the crippled and shrieking Singe. The Killdozer stands up, shifting into Earthquake. <'EDC'> Talia McKinley says, "Engaging in tactical determent of the enemy. Gonna be a skeeter in this bloke's bonnet fer as long as Ah can manage." <'EDC'> Corporal Spike Witwicky says, "Wait, what?" <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "I'm dealing with Shockwave. I doubt I'll be able to provide assistance to any of you. If you're in trouble, retreat to the Intrepid." Suddenly, an exo-suited human approaches and challenges Shockwave's advance toward the bridge. Triggerhappy transforms and steps in front of him, grinning. "Sorry, fleshy, Shockwave doesn't have time to deal with people like you. Me, however...I don't discriminate!" Not when it comes to shooting, anyway. Weapons click as they unfold and he fires upon Kenya! <'EDC'> Talia McKinley says, "Copy that... though gonna make 'em 'least regret buttin' in first." Triggerhappy reverts to his root form. <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "Singe and Hairsplitter are making a run for it. I'm going to try and make my way to the exo bay." Earthquake, even if he had noticed Talia, probably would've chugged on by anyway. She's just a human, after all, and not even in one of those powered suit things. What threat could she possibly be to him? Of course, she then snaps off a shot with some kind of magnetic round that punches /just/ enough through his armor to scramble his servos, slowing him up a fair bit. "What the slaggin'..." he grumbles, shifting to robot mode and turning to face the EDC soldier. "Oh, a little vermin. Alright, you wanna play? I'll play." And then he slams his fist into the floor, causing a seismic reaction in the metal of the ship that tears up large chunks in a line toward Talia. Hey, there's that collateral damage he was talking about. <'EDC'> Corporal Spike Witwicky says, "...We're not losing this station! I just finished fixing things!" <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "I'm going to head to the Exo bay too, we can be Exo buddies" <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "Scratch that. I'm dealing with Shockwave and a nobody." As he finally lands in his self-made doorway, one of the Sweeps that went ahead of him is waiting, with an EDC tech in hand. The human is squirming in his suit, desperation in his eyes. Galvatron holds a hand out to him (the one with that weapon on it), "Your radio, worm." The tech, who would look confused if he wasn't still scared out of his wits, hands the radio over eagerly. Taking it, Galvatron walks past the Sweep holding the tech and plugs the receiver into his own, gaining access to the standard EDC frequency (low level tech, so thankfully those command frequencies are safe). Meanwhile the Sweep tosses the tech out the door, at least he's alive... for now. Galvatron begins walking further into the EDC station. However he doesn't simply listen to the channel. Oh no, he plans to have a small chat with the humans, tell them just where they went wrong in this foolhardy endeavour. He may also rant. "Kenya Momesa," Shockwave states, rounding a corner and eying the human. "You should have gone home with Chikome-Ollin and his ilk when you had the chance. The plight of the humans here is of no concern to you." Even as he banters with Kenya, the Decepticon is receiving messages from the three Sweeps outside on their progress. The space warriors are doing a good job so far. Knowing that Galvatron could blast them at any instant probably helps. When the Benefactor charges Shockwave does not even bother trying to dodge. Instead he just braces himself, raising his arms to defend his face. Kenya hits like a truck... but only a normal truck and not a truck that could transform into a robot. There's now a solid Kenya's-fist-sized dent in Shockwave's forearm, but it was either that or in his optic. He has no need to retaliate, for Triggerhappy is right there to take over for him. Shockwave shoves Kenya away and resumes stomping towards the bridge... though he is ready in case Kenya thinks he can take on *two* Decepticons at once. <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "Oh my dear pathetic little human, it's Witwicky isn't it? I'm afraid you are indeed losing this station, permanently." <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "Eh, Galvatron??" <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "You'll never get away with this, Thunderwing!" <'EDC'> Corporal Spike Witwicky says, "Nnrrgh!" <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "Oh, Galvatron, sorry, you all sound the same on radios" <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "...Wow, I did not mean it like that" Power Armor isn't expecting the interference from the targetmaster and the energy beam slice into his power armor, forcing him to step back from Shockwave. "This Earth adopted me and I'm willing to die to protect it." He tries to follow Shockwave but Triggerhappy is blocking his way, "Out of my way. I don't have time to deal with a grunt." The benefactor raises his arms, palms of his hand aimed as the Decepticon. They start glowing and suddenly two energy beams fly right towards the targetmaster. Velum is gonna be feeling that tomorrow. She wouldn't have been happy to beat up Singe in the past, and she's still not fond of it, but it has to be done. Watching the Neb crumple into a pathetic heap, she just sniffs down at him. "Get it together. Mine was broken in three places last time." She's tempted to strike again, but is thwarted by Hairsplitter absconding with her target. "Hn.." Good riddence. Mind is elsewhere now and she snags up her helmet, booking it down the corridors to get her suit... Which Shockwave may hear not too long after and turn to find the raging bull that is her exo storming down the hall. "I got you, Momesa!" And like a freight train she aims right for the cyclops, aiming to slam him full force into the wall. Climbing up into her large exo suit, Velum straps in, fires it up, and is ready to fight Omnisuit "Salamander" scowls after the retreating Targetmaster pair, and turns to frown at Carly, not that she could detect this. "Carly, go take cover!" He jogs down the corridor to spot Shockwave leaving Kenya to Triggerhappy. <> All he can think to do is find his own cover behind a rusty generator and offer up some covering fire for Velum as she takes Shockwave head-on. Must be nice to have a GIANT EXO. Carly legs it down the corridor after Velum to get the exos. Puffing and panting when she gets to the hanger, she grabs a ribena from a vending machine to cool down, and then clambers into her exo, straightening the furry dice hanging in it. "Phew, I wonder where everyone is?" she mutters out loud, wandering down the corridor, HOPEFULLY NOT IN THE DIRECTION OF GALVATRON Its time for Carly's Exo-Suit! Outside, the EDC shuttle is firing all its weapons at the attacking Decepticons. Starfighters are coming out of its hangar and start chasing the Sweeps that are doing, God knows what on Copernicus' hull. Attention: Gotten. So that part of the plan worked at least. As the Decepticon transforms and turns around to raise his arm, Talia shifts her own stance and turns her weapon to slam the butt end of the stock into the console next to her. The fist slams into the deck, wrenching it up and apart into bits as the shockwave travels down the corridor shredding metal. The emergency bulkhead drops from above to close off the corridor in front of the woman, just in time for the vibrations to slam into it and rip it open, the metal paneling peeling back like the layers of an onion. Smoke belchs from a damaged deployment system to hiss past the gap blown in the security door. Little bits of metal clatter about the deck as Talia shakes them off her hat and then replaces it on her head, running two fingers along the edge to straighten it up. "What's a matter, big fella? Think one lil varmint ain't 'nuff fer yer time?" With a reflexive motion that would make any western proud she snaps up her smaller sidearm from its holster in one hand while still balancing the rifle in the crook of the other, takes aim with it and fires! Only to miss. Or so it seems, except she hits the wall at just the right angle for sci-fi physics to apply and it deflects off of it at the Decepticon from a different angle instead! Continuing to make his way through the station, Galvatron catches sight of where Earthquake is playing with Talia, however Galvatron doesn't concern himself with that fight much, confident that Earthquak will dispatch the human, or face humilation for failure as appropriate. Galvatron moves onward towards the bridge, albeit at a far slower pace than Shockwave, continuing to taunt the humans as he does so. <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "So, Kenya Momesa, ready to surrender? To live under the order my Empire brings?" <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "You will be rusting at the bottom of the ocean before I surrender to you." Awww, darn. Earthquake's newest little vermin friend survived his shockwave of doom. And now Talia's retaliating with a shot from her handgun, which bounces off a wall and smacks into a chink in the large 'Con's armor. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to hit anything important, just sorta gets lodged in there. It's pretty uncomfortable though. In any case, he huffs at her retort, not bothering to say anything in return. But, since his hand is still in contact with the floor, he sends another seismic pulse that shakes this entire section of the ship, threatening to knock Talia off her feet! Shockwave doesn't make it very far to the bridge before he's swarmed by two more EDC troopers. He isn't particularly surprised, of course. This is a human station and the species is known for reckless behavior. Velum charges towards him much in the way that Kenya did, but where the Benefactor succeeded, the Nebulon does not. Shockwave sidesteps the exo-suit. Before he can turn around to smash her into oblivion, however, Spike Witwicky takes a shot at him. Whirling, Shockwave spies the Omnisuit and instantly recognizes it as belonging to the #1 human on the Decepticon to-kill list. Acting quickly, he reaches back and tries to grab at Velum. He snags her, the cyclops sends her hurling towards Spike's suit as hard as he can. Should Velum evade him, he'll tear a chunk off the way straight out of the bulkhead and use that instead. There's apparently a bonus objective that involves killing Carly Witwicky. Who was that, again? Some human female, right? Triggerhappy is not sure, but he's certain Blowpipe would know. In the meantime, he takes a blast straight to the chest from Kenya, not even bothering to try to dodge it or even block it. And then Carly comes running down the corridor behind Velum, headed for an exosuit. <> Blowpipe remarks internally. "Aha! You must be Carly Witwicky! You seem to be in Galvatron's thoughts today!" He cackles. "Lucky you." <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "A shame, I would have thought being under the rule of the Militants back in your own universe, you would have become used to being enslaved." <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "Go ask them what kind of slave I was." <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "I might do that, when I deliver your broken body to them." <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "You better make your move fast because according to our intel, your 'friend' won't let you on your throne for long." Now free from Triggerhappy's interference, the benefactor runs after Shockwave trying not to be distracted by Galvatron's insults on the EDC frequency. He arrives just in time to see Shockwave wrecking havoc on Spike and Velum, "I'm not down with you Cyclop." The masai warrior leaps into the air as he joins both hand together and slams them hard into Shockwave's back. "Oh flippin' 'eck!" Carly skids to a halt as she almost runs straight into Triggerhappy. As the Decepticon shoots at her, she ducks and it hits Galvatron... which must mean she is somehow trapped between the two Decepticons! "So, uh..." Carly casts her eyes about, looking for a way out of this. "All this attention is very nice, but I'm married, you know. For the moment." Little does she know that elsewhere, Velum is THROWING HERSELF at Spike! "Maybe you need to cool off!" She slams a gauntleted hand down on a nearby FIRE ALARM, ceiling mounted nozzles spraying down deadly (to Cybertronians) fire retardant foam onto anyone in the corridor! <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "Oh, I forgot to mention, once I conquer Earth and Cybertron, I plan to conquer your Earth. And your Cybertron. Such chaos there, should really introduce some order." Saying something before you're about to hit someone from behind probably isn't the best tactic. Velum has learned this valuable lesson after sailing past Shockwave and becoming his new weapon against Spike. "Argh!" Her larger suit goes flying down the corridor and slams hard into Spike's own, landing in a heap. "Ngh.. Spike, you alright?" She asks, pushing herself back to her feet and trying to help him as well. Once he's up though, Velum unholsters assault rifle from her back and lines up sights on Triggerhappy, not looking pleased when eyeing his own gun. Blowpipe. <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "When you try I'll enjoy seeing Ollin cannoning you in the face. After all he killed your favorite Sweep right? What was his name?... can't remember but who cares? He was one of your elite warrior right?" <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "Ahhh, but that's the problem. You humans keep getting weaker as you get older. I suspect Ollin is a feeble old man. Much like yourself Momesa. *there's a noise in the background that sounds like a fire extinguisher going off* Ahhh, talking about feeble humans." Omnisuit "Salamander" 's blue optics flicker the split-second before Shockwave sends Velum's giant exo in his direction. His armor can only absorb so much, and he gasps as metal bites into skin, and lingers beneath the weight for a moment, left reeling. "Shit..." Carly promptly covers the area in foam. "Yeah I'm fine," he mutters as he's pulled onto his feet. "Oh for- CARLY!" In hopes of drawing attention away from her, he fires up his arm-mounted torch and sends a plume of plasma flames at Shockwave's feet. <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "Oh no!" <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "You would be surprised." <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "Spike, please don't swear" Talia McKinley starts to step into the opening the busted security door when a second shockwave vibrates through the corridor, sending her toppling out of the opening and making what would of been a graceful landing more of a awkward stumble and tumble. To her credit Talia manages to keep on her feet thanks to all the years she spent working on an unsteady ship deck in the Coast Guard, but the disorienting shuddering still has her staggering against a wall. Oof. A glance out of the corner of her eye at the guage in her HUD. Not enough charge for a full shot, but she can't spare too much time. Even while leaning against the wall she shifts the rifle up and fires another magnetic round at the Decepticon. "Suck it in hell or whatever ya bolt munchers say." The Decepticon leader has been generally avoiding combat. Not out of any particular reason but wanting to cannon the station itself into oblivion. And then he gets hit by Triggerhappy as he tries to shoot Carly. Well, now that's Galvatron starting to get mad, a low growl coming from him, "Strike the right targets Triggerhappy, or I will execute you here and now!" Cause Galvatron is that confident of victory here, or just doesn't care to be shot by one of his men. And then Carly tries to attack him, or put a fire out, Galvatron can hardly tell. And he hardly cares. "Ahhh, just the little human wretch I was looking for." Reaching out for the exo-suited human, he grabs for her WITH HIS BARE HANDS! You receive a radio message from Velum: Sir, I don't think we're making much ground in this fight. Triggerhappy doesn't even notice that his shot hit Galvatron. Carly causes flame-retardant foam to spray everywhere, but contrary to what she thought, it has no effect on the Cybertronians! (Except maybe for Shockwave?) Velum's rifle grazes a shoulder, and he turns his attention away from Spike's wife. "What? That's the best you can do? C'mon, stop pulling your punches, Earth scum!" The Targetmaster's gun laughs before going off. Hopefully this time Triggerhappy will actually hit his intended target. Galvatron says, "syscheck" You send a radio message to Velum: You are right. With Galvatron here he won't be able to save the station. Start to evacuate our troops. I'll do my best to hold them. It is a beautiful sight for the humans, no doubt, when Kenya Momesa lunges at Shockwave's exposed back and drives his hands square into the backpack there. "Ngh!" There's a cracking noise that echos through the hallway as something inside the Decepticon breaks. Shockwave stumbles forward just in time for Spike to cut loose with a full wave of plasma energy, setting Shockwave's feet on fire. The Decepticon crashes into the wall and then falls to the ground by way of his hand and knees, completely off balance. The Decepticon is momentarily stunned... or so it seems. In truth, Shockwave is rerouting power to his damage control systems and preparing his next offensive against the humans. You send a radio message to Velum: Our frequency of comprimised. Keep the evac communication off it. You receive a radio message from Velum: Yessir. <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "Ahhh, Witwickys! I have someone that belongs to you I believe." Heh, that took the spring out of her step. Now, Earthquake just has to saunter over and crush Talia between his fingers- oh wait, she's still got that magnetic rifle. This shot doesn't punch through as much as her first one, but it still slows him down even more. Growling in irritation, the 'Con struggles to take a step forward. "You really are just as annoying as a vermin. But I'll fix that. I'll fix it permanently!" he shouts, throwing everything he has into one long leap down the corridor. It's not as much as he could do normally, but it's enough to close the distance so he can try to crush her underfoot. <'EDC'> Corporal Spike Witwicky says, "Wh'..." Power Armor doesn't waste any time as Shockwave is knocked off balance. His armor's computer links with Copernicus central systems and the whole station starts to shake just like if it was moving. <> The benefactor doesn't follow his own order as he intends to remain here until everyone is safe on the shuttle. "Copernicus may be going down but you'll go down with it." He says to Shockwave before blasting him again. "Argh!" Carly is suddenly grabbed by Galvatron, struggling into the purple tyrant's grasp. "I'm not scared of you, Galvatron!" she grunts. "You were way scarier when you were Megatron, and he wasn't scary at all! Maybe in a 'how does he even function' way?" In an attempt to get Galvatron to drop her, she ignites the welding torch tool on the fist of her exo and tries to punch Galvatron in the eye. Omnisuit "Salamander" watches grimly as Shockwave is brought to his knees. Then his gaze drifts to the source of Galvatron's voice, and the sight of Carly within his grasp throws him. He pales about ten shades as she punches Galvatron in the optic. Momesa's orders fall on deaf ears as Spike draws his hardlight omniblade and dodges some of Earthquake's debris to try and drive the weapon into Galvatron's leg. "LET HER GO!" Earth scum? As if! Velum's exo is sent staggering back at Triggerhappy's shot from Blowpipe, a good bit of chest armor flying off from the high-powered impact. Systems blare in warning at the sparking wound, but Velum ignores it. "Fine, you want the big guns? Well you're gonna get 'em!" With a ka-chunk her large cannon swings up into place on the exo's shoulder, systems heating up and a glow of life forming in the back of the barrel. Targeting sensors begin to lock onto Triggerhappy, but.. then Carly gets scooped up and her radio goes off. Retreat or help Carly.. retreat or help Carly. "..Damnit, Carly." Triggerhappy is ignored and instead she locks onto the big purple himself. The instant the reticle flashes Velum slams down on the button. With a loud CRACK the barrel explodes with a cannon shot of high powered energy that even sends her own suit skidding back into a wall from the force. Talia McKinley pushes herself back up off the wall and manages to sling the rifle onto her back again by the strap. Just in time for the Decepticon to come thundering down the hallway towards her. Years of training kick in to dive herself out of the way of impact, but the sheer force of a foot slamming into the deck and buckling it is enough of a shock to send the woman crashing farther down the corridor in a very ungraceful manner. Don't ask how the hat stays on her head. Probably some animator being too lazy to variate from her stock model sheet to draw her without it. Chest heaves to catch the breath knocked out of her as she gets partway up. Then notices the map of the station in the corner of her HUD blicking out of the corner of her eye, and glances the other way to see that it's right. Instead of bothering to waste time with the proper unlock code she just punches the keypad to bust it, then kicks open the maintenance duct hatch and uses her grip on the frame to slide herself inside. She needs a relatively safe moment or two so she can swap the power packs in her weapon, and this is about the best she's going to get, even if he does start smashing walls trying to get at her.... Slag it all, Earthquake missed. Those magnetic shots must be messing with his servos more than he thought. And what do you know, she's gone and scurried into a hole in the wall. "You really are a rat, aren't you?" he taunts, slamming his fist into the wall next to him. It's just a vertical floor, he reasons, as another shockwave tears through the wall toward Talia's position. He's just guessing where exactly he needs to aim, but maybe it'll scare her if it doesn't actually hit her. Shockwave looks up as power starts to flow through his circuits again. This is just in time for Kenya to address him before cutting loose. Rising to his full height, the energy blast glances off Shockwave's hardened armour and fails to penetrate. Now towering over the man, his optic flashes with a dangerous menace. "Copernicus's destruction is clear, Benefactor," Shockwave states. His arm cannon begins to hum as he charges it to maximum power. "I am well aware of your attempts to evacuate your personnel... admirable, but /flawed/." Shockwave takes aim and fires a wide beam. "*I* can survive re-entry. *You* cannot. Your fleeing companions are *useless* without leadership, and so once you are terminated we will see Earth Defence Command crumble." Shockwave fires a second time. "You erred in facing me." He fires once more. "And the error will prove fatal." As his new toy fires a plasma torch at his eye, Galvatron holds a hand up to it, looking almost reminiscent of his maker for a moment. However it isn't enough to loosen the other hands grip on Carly, and Spikes half-hearted attack on his leg is even less so. However the Nebulons cannon gets his attention. Galvatron growls, then looks at Carly, "It seems your fellow vermin are eager to have you back. I do hope they are as useless at playing fetch as they are defending this station." With that, Galvatron grabs Carly with his other hand, and spinning round he throws her with all his might at a section of hull that's already looking seriously weakened. As he lets her go he rips at her suit, intent on not just sending her into space, but doing so without the protection of an intact suit. <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "FETCH HUMANS! FETCH!" <'EDC'> Corporal Spike Witwicky says, "Argh, DAMN YOU GALVATRON!" Triggerhappy laughs as Velum finally brings out the big guns. But then she suddenly switches targets and fires upon Galvatron himself. Oh, she's worried about her human friend, isn't she? He considers helping Galvatron beat squish Carly, but Blowpipe advises against it. Galvatron was pretty mad last time he accidentally hit him. Which was like, only a few kliks ago, and he just realized that thanks to his Nebulan partner. Instead, he transforms and flies straight at Velum, attempting to smash her through the weakened walls of the station and out into the void beyond! T"Hey! Now I can't let you ruin the boss' fun! I mean that's just...inhospitable! No way to treat a guest on this station, now is it?! Especially one with a reputation like Galvatron's!" he laughs as he flies at her. Triggerhappy laughs as Velum finally brings out the big guns. But then she suddenly switches targets and fires upon Galvatron himself. Oh, she's worried about her human friend, isn't she? He considers helping Galvatron beat squish Carly, but Blowpipe advises against it. Galvatron was pretty mad last time he accidentally hit him. Which was like, only a few kliks ago, and he just realized that thanks to his Nebulan partner. Instead, he transforms and flies straight at Velum, attempting to smash her through the weakened walls of the station and out into the void beyond! "Hey! Now I can't let you ruin the boss' fun! I mean that's just...inhospitable! No way to treat a guest on this station, now is it?! Especially one with a reputation like Galvatron's!" he laughs as he flies at her. Triggerhappy transforms into a blue and white Cybertronian aircraft. <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "Urrrrg. .... ..... ..... .... I want everyone out NOW!" "...And furthermore, I..." Carly extracts her fist from Galvatron's eye and makes a confused face as the Decepticon leader tears her suit to shreds and throws her through the disintegrating hull of the station. "SPIKE!" she manages to yell before she remembers her MIT GRADUATE training, and quickly exhales all the air from her lungs and screws her eyes tight as she is flung into THE DEADLY VOID OF SPACE (which isn't cold just has a lack of heat) *CRUNCH* Another bulkhead suffers the wrath of Earthquake as his fist punches through the metal with little difficulty. But with no satisfying squish of human at the end of the mechanical knuckles as Talia barely manages to keep herself away from the portion of the turnway he just slammed it into, hunched down in the bottom of the turnway, because trying to climb up would of been the obvious way she could of gone and been attacked like that. While still huddled down there, she frowns a bit at the radio. Then aims her gun up at Earthquake's fist and first off a short but intense burst of energy, trying to warp the bulkhead around Earthquake's fist before he can pull it out and maybe get it stuck there at least long enough to come up with a better course of action. Omnisuit "Salamander" blanches yet again as Galvatron hurls his beloved through a hull. If they make it through this, she's never allowed out of the house again. :I Spurred into action, he leaps through the breach after Carly, catches her amongst the torn station's wreckage and tries desperately to hail the Intrepid or any nearby EDC shuttle. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Omnisuit "Salamander" has 'skipped' his action for this round. Carly stands before you! Hurray! Power Armor is blasted off his feet and right into the wall. Somehow, his armor saved his life but his chestplate is a mess. The nanites get to work to fix it but so many of them are damaged that it's doubtful they can repair all the damage. Copernicus still seem to be moving, though it's hard to notice in the middle of a fight, as Kenya rises to his feet. "You would be surprised to see what I can survive. And you are underestimating the EDC. Another one shall rise from its rank if I fall. It's your race that's on the edge of instinctionnot mine." The benefactor jumps back right towards Shockwave launching a series of punch at the purple mech, "We shall never surrender!" Outside, the Intrepid is sending teams to get all those that need rescuing to bring them back inside the shuttle. They also try to communicate with those on Copernicus : <> <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "You heard Captain Smith? Anyone still on the station, get the hell out! That's an order." Ohoho, it seems Talia's getting smart now, taking advantage of the hole made by Earthquake's shockwave to pin his fist inside the wall. Clever girl. "Now you're just being a nuisance on purpose." the big bot remarks, struggling to twist his hand around so he can get proper purchase on the metal. A little more, and...there! He sends another pulse through it, this time simply trying to fling any loose debris he can at Talia. If he can't blast her to bits, he'll just shred her to ribbons! "Carly!" Velum yells out when Carly is thrown out of the station. The urge to save her is overwhelming, but Spike sees to the rescue. Things are going bad, very bad. So much so that she doesn't even notice Triggerhappy coming for her. The impact sends her own suit through the station's hull, the metal buckling before giving way to the weightless vacuum of space. For once she's actually panicking, cabin flashing red and her voice heard cursing constantly over the radio while tumbling end over end through the void. Her only saving grace is a nearby shuttle racing towards her to grab flailing exo with an extending safety hook and drag her back in. Naturally she's yelling at the pilot the whole time to swing her back to the Copernicus, but orders are orders and they race off to safety. <'EDC'> Talia McKinley cusses a few times under her breath. Then drawls, "Rawht, just makin' sure my unwanted playmate can't follow quickly." "I look forward to putting our conflicting hypothesis to the test," Shockwave retorts regarding the EDC surviving without Momesa. The station is moving, but if Shockwave notices he doesn't comment on it. He has confidence that he can survive whatever comes next. Shockwave blocks the first punch with a low swipe, but takes a step back. "Brave words, Benefactor. I have heard them before. Earth is not the first planet we have conquered and it will not be the last." Shockwave blocks the next couple punches. It's difficult to defend against someone who's both strong and tiny. "On Ducksin they swore they would never yield to the Empire, but we broke their will." Shockwave finally misses a block, and a punch nails him square in the gut. "Ngh... on Gharg their leaders vowed to fight us to the last, and now the species serves us as slaves." Another punch gets through, and Shockwave doubles over. "Humanity..." he retaliates with a vicious backhanded smash of his fist. "/Will be no different/." <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "Momesa, you better be following. Don't make me strangle this pilot to turn around so I can drag your ass off that sinking ship." <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa says, "I'll follow once everyone is safe. You're mission now is to bring everyone safely back to Earth. I forbid you to come back for me." <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "Hnn.. Damnit. Yessir." Apparently his tactic worked, as Galvatron isn't being attacked any more. Ahhh humans, how predictable sentimental they are. Galvatron calmly walks to one of the holes in the stations hull. One of the many it now features. Tapping his radio he broadcasts, <> And with that he is flying towards the Decepticon shuttle that took them here, itself having been assaulted no doubt. <> With that, Galvatron flies with considerably more speed than he did getting to the station, landing on the shuttle as it moves to where he instructed them to. As it moves he transforms. A slight hum can be heard (okay, so not heard, since this is space and nobody can hear you hum, but anyone even seeing the Decepticon leader can SEE the energy building up in the giant cannon. Galvatron transforms into his Galvcannon mode. There's a satisfiying CRUNCH as Triggerhappy's aerial form connects with Velum's exosuit, and a SMASH as they both tear through the weakened hull and out into the bleak void of space. He watches triumphantly as Velum flails helplessly, rescued at the last moment by a passing shuttle. Once she's gone, the Targetmaster turns back toward the station, aiming his guns through the many holes at the first target he can spot--which happens to be Kenya, as he's arguing grappling with Shockwave. Ohoho, it seems Talia's getting smart now, taking advantage of the hole made by Earthquake's shockwave to pin his fist inside the wall. Clever girl. "Now you're just being a nuisance on purpose." the big bot remarks, struggling to twist his hand around so he can get proper purchase on the metal. A little more, and...there! He sends another pulse through it, this time simply trying to fling any loose debris he can at Talia. If he can't blast her to bits, he'll just shred her to ribbons! Power Armor can see it coming and he raises both arm to block Shockwave's vicious backhand but the Decepticon military commander is just too strong and his hit nearly knocks Kenya's helmet off. "You've been trying to conquer Earth for what? Over 30 years? Right now my troops are using the only city you managed to build as a training field." Before he can adds anything, he blasted, right in the middle of his back, back Triggerhappy and he's forcing to put one knee down. He raises his head and his bloody lips stretch into a smile behind his helmet. "Let's see how you survive a crash Decepticon...because this station is a collision course with the moon and I doubt you can escape fast enough." Then summoning his last strength, he fires one last blast in an attempt to slow down the purple decepticon. "Damn right Ah am!" Talia retorts at the big lug, even as his jerking about trying to get his fist free pelts her with the scraps of metal being shaken loose. That's not going to hold him for very long, but hopefully it's long enough. She shimmies out of the access hatch, and pulls a larger bit of metal out of her thankfully body-armor lined jacket. It's got several other tears in it, not to mention she's been bruised up, but blood is thankfully a minimum tonight. "Let that be a lesson to ya," she snorts as she tosses the lump aside. "More than one way to deal with a mad bull." Witty remarks is the only thing she's shooting now though, as she hotfoots it to meet up with the others. Carly and Spike are rescued by the lovely men (and women, and ship orangutan) of the Intrepid. Carly's limp form twitches on the floor of the ship as she woozily regains consciousness, still in a stupor. "Uuuh hello Sparkplug," she mumbles to Spike. "I had a dream where I punched Galvatron in the eye, is Dawn okay?" Shen then passes out again. "Your species thinks in small terms, Benefactor. It is one of the flaws of the species." Shockwave's optic flashes. "You think in *decades*. Half a life time for you, but merely an instant for a Cybertronian." Shockwave doesn't bother correcting Kenya in that it's been 50 years, not 30. "The Decepticons have struck fear into the entire galaxy, and that was with a dying world. Now that Cybertron is returning to its original, fully powered state, /what makes you think anything can stop us now/?" Shockwave charges, but receives another gauntlet blast to the mid-section, stopping SHockwave dead in his tracks. "The Moon...?" Shockwave pauses, sending a flurry of radio transmissions back to the Decepticon shuttle and the Sweeps for confirmation. Radio silence isn't an issue now. "Then our objective is complete. Triggerhappy, time is of the essence!" The Guardian of Cybertron transforms into gun mode and smashes its way through the hull, exiting back into space. Earth's sole moon looms in front of Shockwave. <> Shockwave's legs combine as his back unfolds. A wide, silver barrel appears out of subspace and connects to his arms, completing his transformation into ray gun mode. Triggerhappy watches from the outside as he suddenly realizes the station is on a collision course with Earth's moon. Uh-oh, Shockwave's still inside. <> But Shockwave is already on it, as his he immediately exits the station and leaves the structure to its own demise. The Targetmaster watches it fall, then heads for the vessel where Galvatron is now standing. Tch, the fleshbag is getting away, and Galvatron's ordering a retreat. Well, since Earthquake is already trying to rip his hand out of the wall... "Hey, vermin! Catch!" he calls after Talia, tearing a chunk of the wall out with his hand and flinging it after her. Once that's done, he transforms back into his altmode and starts heading back out the way he came. With the bulk (if not all) of the Decepticon forces having evacuated the station on Galvatrons orders, the Decepticon shuttle holds it's position, the pilots are also smart enough to prep the thrusters and engines to ensure they can deal with a firing Galvcannon attached to their hull. Energy continues to build up in the cannon, there's almost a ball of energy at the tip of the cannon, virtually begging to have it's destructive energies unleashed on the universe, and the station that is it's target. However Galvatron is not done taunting the humans just yet, first one last taunt. <> With that, the full destructive force of the Galvcannon is unleashed in a stream of energy, which while it starts a kind of blue colour, turns white from the sheer power behind it. Reaching through space to impact the station right where the bridge is located. <'EDC'> Galvatron says, "Humans! Know this, your venture to the stars is ending. Your freedom will be no more. And your lives will come to service us. And as for what any resistence will be met with... well here's a hint." Copernicus is pierced by many holes and fire come out of most of them as Kenya watches Shockwave leaving. Not caring for his personal safety, he runs a quick scan of the station to ensure that every EDC member is now safe on the Intrepid. He also checks that the station really is falling towards the Moon, not towards Earth. He knows he doomed the station when he activated its engines but he could not risk it crashing on the planet below. Now convinced that he's alone on Copernicus, Kenya makes his way towards the nearest exit. That's the exact moment Galvatron chooses to blast the station. Debris falls over Kenya, trapping him on the bridge of the doomed shuttle. The benefactor tries to escape but his armor is so damaged that he's unable to free himself as the station, pushed by the impact of the Galvacannon finally crashes on the surface of the moon. Galvcannon transforms into his Galvatron mode. Eventually the mad dash comes to an end and Talia slumps in a seat in one of the evacuating ships, huffing and puffing heavily to catch her breath. She sits back, only to wince and grimace once the adrenaline starts to wear off, and she realizes just how badly battered her side is from the debris of that panel shattering in the corridor behind her after being tossed and bombarding her with the bits. Possibly broke a rib or two even. Not anything modern medicine of the future can't fix, but boy how is it going to hurt all the way back to base.... <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "Dear Gods..." <'EDC'> Talia McKinley says, "Guess even after this long the basards were sore chumps about losin' the base." <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky says, "Iiiiiiii had a nice god his name was Fido" <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "Did everyone get out safely? ..Does anyone know if General Momesa got out?" <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky can be heard throwing up profusely <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum says, "..Damnit, no one? Don't you tell me he was still in there." <'EDC'> Kenya Momesa's armor is emiting a signal which includes Kenya's vital signs. He's alive but unconcious. <'EDC'> Lt. Commander Velum can be heard talking to someone else, "I don't care what he said, turn this damn shuttle around, he's still alive!" Back to the channel, "I'm ordering an immediate search and rescue team to the Copernicus wreckage to extract General Momesa. Collect yourselves, suit back up, and get out there." <'EDC'> Carly Witwicky continues to vomit